


The End is The Beginning

by secondalto



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-05
Updated: 2012-05-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 21:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/pseuds/secondalto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He finds Belle, but the happy ending is slow in coming</p>
            </blockquote>





	The End is The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I find myself writing a new pairing in a new fandom (Once Upon a Time). Enjoy! Not betaed, any mistakes are my own.

He finds her several days before the end. They’d taken over the hospital, subdued all of Regina’s people and start checking the place floor by floor. They find Belle in a locked room in the basement. Emma is appalled of course, Gold is shocked. She’s alive. Regina’s lie only strengthens his resolve to be rid of her and the curse forever. Belle didn’t respond until he says her name over and over, until his arms are around her and they are rocking together.

He secrets her away in his house, leaving her huddling in the corner of his bedroom, wishing he could spend more time with her. She is afraid of everything, shivering even in the sun. She’s only calm when he’s touching her, talking gently to her. “I’m sorry, Belle,” he says. “I love you. I’ve got to go, we’ll be together soon.”

She’s still there when they’ve defeated Regina, still there as Storybrooke melts into Fairy Tale Land. He is still locked in the dungeon of the castle, Snow White rushing to free him only moments after everything has settled. He is staring at his hands, staring at the green grey scales that are back. He touches his face, feeling the claws against his skin. He is Rumplestiltskin again. 

As the door of his cell opens, Snow is apologizing, forgiving him for everything he’s done, knowing it was for everyone’s good. Emma’s there, still in t-shirt in jeans while Snow White is in a regal gown and Charming’s in his ruffled shirt. He bows to them as King and Queen, nods to the sheriff and whisks himself away with magic to his castle. Belle is there, waiting for him. She’s still shivering and shaking, but looking around with knowing eyes.

When he reaches his hand out to her, she takes it. He lifts her up, holds her close and she clings to him. He takes her out of the castle, shows her that they are back home, their proper home, not the cursed town in Maine they’ve resided in for the past thirty years.  She leans against him, saying nothing. Months pass by and Belle still doesn’t speak. Jiminy remembers his life as Archie and says it is shock, it will pass in time.  She still looks at him with wonder as if contemplating if he is real, if all of this is real.

Emma visits frequently as does Henry. The boy is exuberant in knowing that Belle is here, and alive. He delights in showing her his storybook, telling her the tales. Belle listens and smiles, but still says nothing. All of the other fairy tale characters come and visit, to thank him for his part in ending the curse. Belle slowly adjusts to life here. She sheds her fear of the light, soon reveling in the sun as she did when she first came to the castle. He never put the curtains back up, even after she left. 

She has nightmares, whimpering in the night. He hears her even though they don’t share a bed or a room. He wants to offer comfort but doesn’t know how. They go about their days separately. At first she holes herself up in the library, reading, forever reading, as she did before. Slowly she expands outward into other parts of the castle. Belle explores the kitchens but avoids the dungeons. She pokes into the grand hall, staring at the hutch where the chipped cup still resides. She sits reading as he spins, never saying anything. 

As time passes, she gains weight, the bruises fade and she begins to lose the haunted look in her eyes but she still doesn’t speak to him, to anyone. She starts cleaning, like she used to, to cook for him, to wander the gardens. She also begins to touch him. She brings him tea, touches his arm to let him know she’s there. She brushes by him while she sweeps or dusts.  Small touches, but they are something that tells Rumple maybe they are on the road to where they were before. Every night he tells her that he’s sorry, asks her to forgive him, but only while she’s sleeping. Somewhere deep inside he’s still a coward. 

A year passes and she still isn’t speaking. Rumple tries not to worry but if it continues, he may need to find if there is a magical cause to her silence. Snow and Charming invite them both to a ball in celebration of the anniversary. He replies that they will be there and conjures up a dress for Belle. It is beautiful and tailor made for her, befitting the woman she is now compared to the girl she was then. 

They arrive at the ball in the middle of all the other guests. They are greeted warmly, drinks pressed into their hands. Rumple doesn’t dance and Belle sticks to his side until Henry tugs her onto the floor. She smiles as they twirl together. Soon she is dancing with everyone else as he watches her, marveling that this woman, his Belle is still with him.  The night wears on; everyone dances and dines and drinks. Belle is smiling, that big bright smile that invites everyone in and his heart clenches. He wonders if they will ever have their happy ever after, if she will ever forgive him for what he did. 

The clock is nearing midnight and the band strikes up a slow dance. Geppetto deposits her back to him with a bow. She looks at him, hand on his arms and finally speaks, saying “Dance with me, Rumple.”  He arches an eyebrow in surprise but says nothing as she pulls him into the crowd. He holds her close as they begin to twirl. The other couples around them whispering as they dance, they are ignored. “Belle,” he begins, not knowing what to say next.

She doesn’t respond at first, just looks up and him and smiles as she leans in. ‘What is she doing?’ he wonders, but then he knows. He still has the power of the Dark One, but has used it infrequently since the return to Fairy Tale Land. He has wanted to give it up, for her, because he no longer needs it, no longer wants it. He has been afraid to ask, waiting for her, waiting for a sign that she still loves him as he loves her. 

She presses a kiss to his lips and he responds by kissing her back. They’ve stopped dancing, standing in the middle of the ballroom. They do not notice that everyone else has moved to the edges, leaving them alone on the dance floor. As they continue to kiss, he can feel it, the prickle of magic along his skin. He felt it before when she tried to kiss him at the instigation of the Evil Queen. But now he knows that this is his Belle, that she is doing it because she wants to, that this is really True Love. The last of the dark magic seeps away from him and everyone is whispering again, pointing at him. She looks into his eyes and caresses his cheek. The scales are gone and he is as he was in Storybrooke. 

“This is how you should always look,” she says. 

“I know, dearie, I’ve been waiting. I love you.”

“I know,” she says, kissing him again as the clock strikes midnight. This is his happy ever after. 


End file.
